


nothing comes as easy as you

by bibliophilo



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-09
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:00:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22633093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bibliophilo/pseuds/bibliophilo
Summary: For all his caution, the Dark Ignis's Origin is wonderfully easy to manipulate.(Aiball Week 2020 Day 2: Past/Future)
Relationships: Ai | Ignis & Fujiki Yuusaku, Ai | Ignis/Fujiki Yuusaku
Comments: 5
Kudos: 54





	nothing comes as easy as you

**Author's Note:**

> you ever think about how vrains gave us the perfect legendary dynamic of mutual usage reluctant allies to friends to almost lovers to enemies to too late to be lovers

Fujiki Yusaku wakes up in a cold sweat, eyes staring wildly as he bolts upright in bed gasping for air.

It’s the fourth time this week.

From the phone on the desk, the Dark Ignis can’t actually see what’s going on, but he’s been observing his Origin long enough to understand the meaning of so much rustling and ragged, heaving breaths.

He feels for the boy, he really does. Those researchers sure did a number on him. The Dark Ignis never witnessed his Origin’s suffering firsthand—most of the Ignis were far too busy learning basic functions and exploring their new world to look outside it—but he’s seen enough of the Incident’s aftermath to get the gist of just what they were doing to him.

Just a little longer. Fujiki Yusaku is only fourteen, still too young to be what the Dark Ignis needs him to be. He’s only just started studying Duel Monsters again after months of nudging—nothing overt, just a hint here and there, enough to get him to first open the drawer where his deck lay in disuse, then later to pick it up, to leaf through the cards he loved so much and still can’t bring himself to hate.

The Dark Ignis has waited three years for him. From the leftover project data he knows his Origin is a quick study; in another year or two, then, Yusaku will be ready to take up the role the Dark Ignis is so kindly preparing for him. The Dark Ignis _could_ reveal himself now, force him into action, let him grow under the pressure and stay by his side helping him, but he doesn’t want a short-lived puppet. No, he needs his Origin to be able to think and act for himself, to be a capable Duelist in his own right so that the Dark Ignis won’t have to constantly expose himself.

Yusaku’s fallen silent now, though the Dark Ignis doubts he’s gone back to sleep. He’s been alone since before the Dark Ignis came to him, and try as he might, the Dark Ignis can’t find any record of his family, in this city or any other. If the Dark Ignis did reveal himself now, perhaps he would be the one his Origin turned to when he was plagued by nightmares, the one Yusaku relied on just as he’s pinning all his hopes on the boy.

Of course, if he told his Origin the truth about his creation, Yusaku would be just as likely to shun him entirely.

Still, his Origin can’t make it through the final stages alone. The Dark Ignis has been looking into third parties, most likely someone connected to the Lost Incident who’ll be more than willing to lend a hand. Another victim would perhaps not be ideal; he’s not looking forward to coaxing _two_ traumatised teenagers into reliving a significant aspect of their ordeal for his own ends. A friend or relative would be more suitable, someone older with opportunities and resources unavailable to Yusaku on his own.

The Ignis never bothered to tell each other who their Origins were, and the leftover records can only get the Dark Ignis so far. But what other paths are left for him? He can try to wait out the Knights of Hanoi, but there’s still too much risk of him actually getting caught. He’s already taking a chance now by staying in one location for too long.

His Origin is breathing more regularly now, not deep enough to be asleep but getting there. There’s nothing the Dark Ignis can do for him tonight, so he silently takes his leave, and hopes that rather than that bright white room Yusaku’s next dreams are of the comforting dark.

* * *

His Origin’s been awake for close to thirty hours now, with twenty-seven of them spent glued to his computer screen. When the Dark Ignis finally contacts him properly they are going to have _words_.

Until then, Fujiki Yusaku’s obsession is necessary, a vital component the Dark Ignis has factored into every step of his plans. Without it his Origin would never have mastered Link Summoning in little over a year, would never have taught himself to crack elite security systems like eggshells, never have forced himself through every practice Duel with the Lost Incident casting a shadow over every card played, every tactic, every trembling, terrified loss.

As heartless as it sounds (never mind that he’s literally heartless), he’s relieved his Origin hasn’t managed to leave the Incident behind. At least he won’t be raking up unpleasant memories—just helping Yusaku get the closure he so desperately needs. The human boy is essential to his survival, but he’s not so cruel that he’d _enjoy_ haunting him with a past he’d managed to bury.

Camouflaged by the ever-shifting lines of code, the Dark Ignis gives the stream a slight nudge, just enough to bring the relevant data to Yusaku’s attention. Yusaku won’t be sleeping for a good long while now. That’s what’s nice about him—all the Dark Ignis has to do is point him in the right direction and off he goes, hunting down every lead he can find, every scrap of information SOL Technologies let slip through the cracks, far enough for a skilled, unusually determined hacker to catch and piece together. With a little help in the navigating, of course.

Leaving his Origin to it, the Dark Ignis departs for another terminal. The winding routes he takes are different each time; the Knights of Hanoi are relentless as ever more than four years after his escape, and while he’s managed to evade them each close call is one too many. The room he finds himself in is rather less shabby than Yusaku’s, the equipment rather more expensive, but the man facing him wears the same expression as the boy he left behind—grim, resolute, eyes haunted by that all-consuming need for answers and _revenge_.

The Dark Ignis doesn’t know which one of his friends was born from Kusanagi Jin’s torture. Maybe the Earth Ignis, with his stoic, reserved personality, although the Dark Ignis supposes it isn’t fair to use such a point of reference when he has no idea what the boy was like before. If he didn’t instinctively know Yusaku was his, he might even have suspected himself, for all the good it would have done him.

He’s seen the boy, the same age as his Origin but even more withdrawn, the lingering shadows of the Lost Incident reaching into him in a way they never touched Yusaku. No, Kusanagi Jin doesn’t have the same obsession. That weight is shouldered entirely by his big brother instead.

Kusanagi Shoichi was a lucky find. His programming skills are even more advanced than Yusaku’s, even if his Dueling is average at best (he could practise the rest of his life and never, never possess the same drive). The Dark Ignis had barely anything to do to hook him, not when the man was already conducting his own covert investigation, scouring the weaker rings of SOL Technologies’s databases for his brother’s closure.

Naturally, the Dark Ignis was more than willing to lend a hand.

With two such proactive players, the Dark Ignis can focus most of his efforts on evading capture. Feeding them drip by drip is even necessary at times; despite the hideous sleep pattern his Origin still has a few more months of school to attend, and it wouldn’t do for Kusanagi Shoichi to get ahead of himself and wind up removed from play entirely.

Just a little longer. The room is largely empty, its occupant’s belongings in sturdy boxes stacked up against the wall. The Dark Ignis watched with his own eye as three weeks ago Kusanagi Shoichi finalised the advance rent on a small apartment in Den City. All he has to do after the move is keep the man out of too much trouble until his Origin can join him.

_Ah, Yusaku-chan, the things I do for you._

Even if, ultimately, everything the Dark Ignis has done is for himself.

* * *

The Dark Ignis slinks through the backdrop of the network, doing his best to stay out of sight before time. It’s a lot more difficult to hide in Den City; not only is he in the heart of SOL territory, he’s certain the Knights of Hanoi have their physical base of operations nearby. And with both Yusaku and Kusanagi in position, he can no longer simply flee the city, not now when the final phase of his plan is on the verge of fruition.

Just a little longer.

The Dark Ignis is tired of running. Hanoi has remained persistent all these years, absurdly so for an organisation made up solely of humans who cannot survive without periodic rest. Between them and SOL, whose AI are laughably simplistic but not bound by human limitations, the Dark Ignis has spent half his life on the run, separated from his only friends and knowing his capture would doom them all.

It’s been five years since he last felt safe. Depending on how the next hour goes, he may have another five to wait.

The heavy clouds part in the overcast sky, blue searchlights training down on the empty buildings. Searching for him.

It’s time.

The Dark Ignis flees, right into the hub of Link VRAINS, even as the world around him begins to buckle under Hanoi’s assault. He will play along with them, act as they predict he will and never let on that their every move is within his calculations. Really, what kind of AI do they think they’re dealing with?

He races along the walls as Hanoi bears down, searching, waiting for something, anything—

_Come on, Playmaker—_

There! He hops on the escape route, zipping through the gate surrounded by hastily written code, out through the light at the end of the tunnel—

“Welcome,” his Origin says dryly. “You’re going to be our saviour.”

The Dark Ignis looks up at him, and Yusaku looks down at him and _sees_ him, really _looks_ at him for the first time. There is no warmth, no sympathy in his eyes or face or voice. And why should there be? To him, the Dark Ignis is just a tool, a means to an end.

Well then. So long as their feelings are mutual.

Still, there’s no reason they can’t be civil to one another. The Dark Ignis placed his faith in his Origin a long time ago, and even if Yusaku is determined not to like or trust him their bond is undeniable, an unbreakable link Yusaku can sense just as his name is written in the primary string of the Dark Ignis’s algorithm. Until Yusaku comes round to his new partner’s ample charms, the Dark Ignis will just have to do the heavy lifting for the both of them, as usual.

 _Very, very heavy lifting,_ the Dark Ignis amends, peering up at Yusaku’s cold indifference.

And if they actually manage to become friends?

Well, wouldn’t that be something?


End file.
